New ‘Ampere’ EV motor planned

Hailed as the world’s most power dense permanent magnet electric motor, the ‘Ampere’ is under development in the United Kingdom with prototypes expected in about a year.

Electrification company Equipmake has teamed up with additive manufacturing organisation HiETA to develop the next-generation motor, with Innovate UK providing a grant for the project.

The new motor will draw on Equipmake’s expertise in electric motor design and HiETA’s thermal engineering and additive manufacturing knowledge with the target of producing an extremely lightweight, efficient but low-cost electric motor with peak power density of more than 20kW per kg – more than four times as power dense as a conventional electric motor.

Ampere’s performance is its combination of an advanced motor design with additive manufacturing, allowing its metal structure to be 3D printed.

Advantages include putting metal only where it is needed while thermally efficient thin walls and optimised fine surface details can be combined directly with the motor’s structure, replacing multi-part assemblies with a single, complex architecture that has exceptional cooling ability, is lightweight, has low inertia and allows for greatly increased rotational speed,

This approach not only means that Ampere will use the least amount of high strength alloys in its construction, but also the least amount of expensive active materials – the magnets – keeping cost as low as possible.

Equipmake and HiETA are targeting peak power of 220kW at 30,000rpm and a weight of less than 10kg for Ampere while similar motors in use now would generally struggle to muster 5kW per kg.

Its APM 125, one of the world’s most power dense automotive electric motors, offers peak power of 125kW at 12,000rpm and weighs 14kg, giving it a power density of just under 9kW per kg.

Equipmake opened its factory last year in Snetterton, Norfolk, where it provides a complete EV solution, offering the capability to design, test and manufacture everything from motors to fully electrified platforms, supporting the automotive and aerospace sectors.

It designs and manufactures its fully-integrated electric bus chassis on site for an increasingly international customer base.

The APM range of motors are used by its EBus chassis and will also power the upcoming Ariel Hipercar.

“Equipmake has made major leaps in electric motor performance in recent years, with our APM range of advanced motors offering class-leading power densities thanks to their compact, lightweight designs,” managing director Ian Foley says.

“Additive manufacturing is the key to unlocking the next step change and we are delighted to be partnering with HiETA on Ampere. This exciting project has the potential to totally change our concept of what an electric motor can offer – and with such a huge amount of performance in a such a small package at as low a cost as possible, this motor is set to further revolutionise e-mobility, whether that’s in automotive or aerospace.”